Colony High graduate wins Mount Marathon

SEWARD — Former Colony High School standout Eric Strabel won Mount Marathon Monday afternoon in Seward.

Strabel, 29, scaled the famous Seward mountain and made the sprint down to the finish line in 44 minutes and 40 seconds to win the legendary race. The four-time runner-up scored his first career title with the win.

Strabel starred in both cross country running and Nordic skiing during his time at Colony High School.

He was also a standout at the University of Alaska Anchorage and is now a coach with the Alaska Pacific University ski program.

Strabel edged runner-up Brent Knight, who finished second with a time at 44:58. Mark Iverson was third at 45:18.

Strabel was one of a pair of Palmer natives to score top-2 finishes in Mount Marthon. Lyon Kopsack, 15, was second in the boys’ junior race with a time of 27:38. Miles Knotek of Moose Pass was first at 26:18.

Anchorage’s Kikkan Randall won the women’s race, with a time of 52:03. Soldotna’s Allie Ostrander was first in the girls’ junior race, finishing in 30:32.

Complete results were not available before the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman press time.